Gas cut-off.



A. RUNNION.

GAS OUT-OFF.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29. 1912v 1,055,803. P11611161 1111111 1913. F0 1 2 SJIEETS-SHEET 1.

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GAS GUT-UPI.

APPLIGATIOH FILED MAY 29, 1912.

1,055,803. Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

2 SHIQiETS-SHEET 2.

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ALONZO BUNNION, 0F SPENCER, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOB. T0 0. J. CHAMBERS AND LEWIS S. GOFF, BOTH OF sPENCER, VIRGINIA.

ens ctr'rrorr.

Application filed na 29,1912. -Seria1=JTo. 700,502.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, ALONZO RUNNION, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Spencer, in the. county of Roane and State of West Virginia, have invented .a new and useful Gas Cut-Off, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in gas cut-ofl's, and its object is-to provide an, automatically operating means whereby abnormal changes in the gas pres sure in service mains, especially those entering houses, shall cause the cutting .ofi of the gas supply at a predetermined location, so

that dangerous or undesirable conditions may not arise from either a tempor crease of the gas pressure beyond safe limits,

or the cutting ofi of the gas.

It sometimes happens that the gas-supply to a house is cut ofi maliciously outside the 7 house at the street connections and then the flame will be extinguished and the gas.

will then be permitted to flow unignited to' asphyxiate the occupants of the house, this practice being sometimes followed by burglars. Sometimes excessive pressure may will produce dangerous fires and various other undes rable or dangerous conditlons may arise from either excessive pressure the mains or the cuttin 011' of the gas flow while the gas is aflame at jets or outlets, and since the valves of the outlets are not cut ofi the gas will continue to escape, when the pressure is again restored, without the gas being aflame. To avoid such conditions there is provided according to the present invention a cut ofl:' valve constantly constrained toward-the cut off positionand. a latch mechanism is provided 'for holding the valve in the open position. In conjunction with the latch mechanism there are provided electric means for operatin the latch to move it to the unlatched position to permit the valve to .travel to the cut ofi' position under the action of its constraining means, while connected with the gas supply pipe there is a movable electric terminal electrically connected to the electric operating means, for the latch mechanism, and this electric terminal, is under .the control of the cause conditions 'at lighted burners whichwhen the gas pressure exceeds a predethe movable terminal that contact is made termined maximum or falls below. a predetermmed minimum. The movable terminal sensitive .to gas pressure is further under the control of adjusting means whereby its response to gas pressure may be varied.

The electric latch operating means is included in a normally open charged circuit so that no current flows; except when the circult is completed at one or the other of the spaced terminals at the gas main, or when the charged circuit is used for other purposes than the control of the latch mechanism, as, for instance, in a dwelling house the ordinary bell ringing circuit may beemployed for the actuation ofthe latch mechanism without interference vwith its use for sell ringin and the charged circuit may also be used for any other purpose.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings fprming a part of this specification, but the invention is not of necessity confined to any strict conformity with the showin of the drawings, since it is; susceptible o various changes and modifications so long as the salient features of the invention'are retained I In the drawings :Figure {1 is an elevation of a gas-main with the improvement attached and showing the electric circuits in diagram. Fig. 2 is an, elevation as viewed from the'right hand side of the structure as shown in Fig." 1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fi 1. Fig.4 is a section on the line H 0 "Fig. 3-. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5--5 of Fig.3. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the latch mechanism and valve arm controlled thereby.

Referring to thedrawings there is shown a gas main 1 which may for the purposes of this description be considered as leading from a street main into a house. Included in the main 1 is a'cut ofi valve 2- provided with a valve stem '3, and as the invention 'is not limited to the employment of any particular cut off valve, the valve shown may be considered as typical of any suitable valve for the purpose. The valve stem 3 carries-"- a casing 4 mclosing a spring 5, one end ofwhich-is made fast to the valve body and-the other to the casing, and this spring ls so ar' ranged that it tends constantly move the valve to the closedposition. Fast to the body of the'v'alve is a plate, 6 against which the casing 4 engages, and this plate is elongated in the direction of the length of the valve and'at the end remote from the valve VIS formed with ears 7 outstanding from the plate in parallel relation one to the other,

these ears serving to support a yoke 8 having terminal arms 9 in parallel relation one to the other and at the free ends these arms are formed with ears l0. Secured 'to the central portion of the yoke 7 is an electromagnet 11 iwhich may be of the familiar.

- having one end outstanding from the plate and there provided with a screw 17 in the path of the armature 12 and constituting an adjustable-back stop for the armature. The

bracket 16 is also formed with an upstanding side arm 18 for a purpose which will presently appear w i.

he spring casin 4 is provided with an arm 19 bent towar the plate 6 and at the free end formed with an angle extension 20 terminating in a tooth 21 adapted to engage in a notch 22 in the edge of the armature 12 remote from the pivot pins 13. The arm19 is so related to the extension 18 of the bracket 16 that this extension acts as a stop member .for the arm 19 as the tooth .21 engages in the notch'22. The free end of the arm 19 mov'es over an arc-shaped extension 23 of the plate 6, this extension 23 being curved on an arc struck from the axis of the valve stem, and the free end of this arc-shaped extension 23 terminates in an angle portion 24 in the path of the end 20 of the arm 19, and determining the movement of the arm under the action of the spring 5. F Included inthe gas main 1 on the street side of the valve 2 is a T .25 afiording free passage of the gas to the valve 2. This T is formed with a neck 26 having near its outer end an exterior flange 27 on which is seated a cap 28 and the neck 26 and cap 28 have matching ears 29, 30, respectively, for the passage of screws 31 by means of which the cap'is made fast to the neck 26. The cap 28 confines a disk 31 to the outer end of the neck and inorder that the joint may be gas tight, gaskets'32 may be included. The disk 31 is made of any suitable yielding or flexible material, while the cap 28!has an axiallv extended neck 33 open at the free end and there provided with internal screw threads 34 adapted to receive a screw plug 35. thln the neck 33 is a block 36 capable of moving longitudinally of said neck, and one end of this block 1s reduced and threaded, as shown at 36, Where it is passed through the disk 31 and made fast thereto by a nut 37. Between the plug 35 and the block 36 there is confined a spring 38 tending to force the block 36 toward the body of the T, this movement being resisted by the disk or diaphragm 31. The neck33 is provided with a longitudinal slot 39 along one side, and extending through this slot is a pin 40 having an insulating portion 41 adjacent the block, while the outer end of the pin 40 beyond the neck 33 is of conducting material-and may carry a binding screw 42 at the outer end for the attachment of a conductor 43 leading to the magnet 15 or forming any other portion of an'electric circuit to be referred to.

Carriedby the neck 33 isa plate 44 of conducting material, and this plate has two spaced extensions 45, 46, respectively, extending in traversing relation to the slot 39, but spaced therefrom and at all times in thepath of the pin 40. The plate 44 is separated from the neck 33 by insulating material 47 and at an appropriate point the plate 44 carries a binding post 48 for the attachment of an electric conductor 49.

If it be assumed that the conductor 43 leads to One side of the magnet 15, the other side thereof is connected to a conductor 50. The conductors 49 and 50 are connected to the respective terminals of'a battery 51 or other source of electric energy and one of these conductors, say the conductor 50, includes an electric bell 52, while at any appropriate point the conductors 49and 50 have bridged between them a push button 53 or any other circuit controller, and this pushbutton may be taken as typical of any means for completing and interrupting an electric'circuit. Moreover, the bell 52 may be taken as typical of any suitable alarm means.

Let it be assumed that normal gas pressure is established within the main 1 while the valve 2 is closed. If, now, the arm 19 .be grasped it may be moved against. the ac tion of the spring 5 until the tooth 21 is made to engage in the notch 22 of the armature 12, and this position is maintained by the spring 15, which tends at all times to maintain the armature in'engagement with the back stop screw '17 in which position the tooth 21 engages in the notch 22. The normal gas pressure within the main 1 maintains the diaphragm 31 in an intermediate position, the spring 38 being correspondingly compressed, and the pin or contact ter- -minal 40 is under these conditions at an in;

.termediate point between the circuit terminals 45 and 46, the last named terminals being on the same side of thecircuit.

So long as normal conditions prevail or tro-magnet and the armature 12 is attracted- .there is no excessive fluctuation in the gas pressure, the apparatus formingthe subjectmatter of the present invention remains quiescent and as the battery 51 is on open circuit because of the rupture of the circuit between the movable contact or terminal 40 and the stationary contacts or terminals 45 and 46, there is no waste of current. These conditions may be maintainedindefinitely, but should there occur an abnormal fluctuation of gas pressure, then the pin or terminal. 40 will be moved by the action of the diaphragm 31 yielding to increased gas pressure or by the action of the spring 38 moving the diaphragm in the-other direction in response to reduced gas pressure until it comes into engagement with one of the contact terminals 45 or 46 in accordance with whether the pressure increases or decreases abnormally. As soon as the circuit is completed an impulse is sent,through the electher eflect so long as the gasis cut off.

Should it transpire that an attempt is made to restore the valve to the open conditionbefore the abnormal conditions are relieved the valvewill at once return to the closed position, since it cannot be latched in the open position due to the attraction of the armature 12 by the magnet 15.

When the invention is installed in a dwelling house the charged circuit designed by the valve 2 may be employed as an ordinary door bell, a push button 53 being appropriately located for the purpose, or this push button may be replaced by any suitable circuit controlling means, whereby the battery and bell .may be employed usefully 'when the abnormal conditions within the gas main are not present. The bell 52 will glve an alarm when the pressure abnormally increases or decreases sufliciently to cause the closing of the valve- 2, and this alarm will continue so long asthe abnormal conditions prevail, thus notifying the occupants of the house of the cause of the ringing of the bell, for when the bell is used as a door bell the ringing is usually but fora few seconds.

In most installations of the invention the source of current is a battery, but the batteries sometimes fail from lack of attention and other causes, wherefore the use of the circuit in part as a door bell circuit operates as a check on the battery to indicate its condition without the necessity of occasionally testing, for when the door bell circuit shows signs of failure, it is time to renew the battery, while should the door bell feature be omitted various conditions might arise which would render the electric circuit inactive when needed either from failure of the battery or collection of dust on the bell contacts and either of these conditions would prevent the flow of current to cause the closing of the valve when needed.

The utility of the invention has been explained in connection with gas asthe fluid to be controlled, but it will be understood that the invention may be used in connection with other fluids by suitable adjustments to answer the new conditions.

A highly important feature of the invention can best be explained with reference to a "frequent source of fires, namely, those caused by gas flames when the gas bracket is moved too near a wall or to'some other place where a fire may be started. To provide for this contingency there may be provideda normally open circuit closer 54 in such position to each gas fixture, typified at tor provided, say, at the entrance will enable firemen and others to ascertain the lo-- cation of the fire and so gain valuable time. Again, suppose the occupants of a house desire to leave for a time. To provide against any possibility of forgotten burning gas, or accumulation of gas because of leaks, a switch 57 -.is included in the system, or a plurality of such switches if desired, so that the circuit may be manually closed long enough to cause the operation of the main valve to the cut-ofi' pos1tion,when the switch may be opened and the house may be left with. the assurance of safety so far as the gas system is concerned. ;What is claimed is:- 1. A meansfor automatically cutting o the flow of fluid under pressure through a conduit when the pressure rises or falls abnormally-comprising a valve having a valve thequnattracted position, and a circuit con troller for the electro-magnet comprismg" a &

member included in the conduit and carryengagement of the, movable contact with either of the other contacts.

2. A means for the control of fluids nor- K mally flowing under premure through a conduit, comprising a valve in the conduit having a normal tendency to close, electromagnetic latch means for normally holding the Valve in the open position and adapted to receive current from a charged circuit, and a controlling means for said circuit comprising a diaphragm and holder therefor communicating with the conduit, said holder having a neck on the side of the diaphragm remote from the conduit, a slidable member in the neck made fast to the diaphragm, a spring in the neck engagingthe slidable member, an adjustable plug in the neck for varying the pressure of the .spring on the slidable member, a contact pin carried by the slidable member and insulated therefrom, and spaced contact fingers electrically connected one to the other and arranged on opposite sides of the contact pin and normally insulated therefrom, said contact fingers being within the range of movement of the contact pin to be engaged thereby to close a circuit to the electro-magnetic latch means on the movement ot the contact pin to either extreme of its travel.

3. A means for the control of fluids normally flowing under pressure through a conduit, comprising a valve in the conduit having a normal tendency to close, electromagnetic latch means for normally holding the valve in the open position and adapted to receive current 'from a charged circuit, and a controlling means for said circuit comprising a diaphra and holder therefor communicating with the conduit, said holder having a neck on the side of the diaphragm remote from the conduit, a slidable member in the neck controlled by the diaphragm, spaced contact fingers electrically connected one to the other and carried by the neck, a contact member carried by the slidable member and movable between the contact fingers, and means for resisting the movement of the slidable member under the action of fluid pressure and adjustable to vary such resistance and thereby determine the fluid pressure under which the slidable member will move the contact member carried thereby into engagemnt with one or the other of the spaced contact members carried by the neck.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALONZO RUNNION. 

